Abitibi Junior Delivers 77% Indicated and 70% Inferred Resource Growth with Maiden High-Grade Underground Estimate

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Monday, April 27, 2026

Resource estimate updates carry significant weight in a sustained gold bull market. Every additional ounce in a Tier-1 jurisdiction like the Abitibi is valued more highly as majors look to replace reserves, and today one gold developer delivered an update that fundamentally changes the scale of its project.

Maple Gold Mines Ltd. (TSX Venture: MGM) (OTCQX: MGMLF) released its updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate today for the Douay and Joutel gold projects in Quebec. Total project Indicated Resources surged 77% to 905,000oz gold (19.1Mt at 1.55g/t Au), while Inferred Resources increased 70% to 4,279,000oz gold (130.2Mt at 0.88g/t Au). Combined, the two projects now host a resource base approaching 5.2 million ounces across all categories.

The growth at the Douay deposit is substantial. The open pit Indicated Resource grew 43% to 731,000oz at 1.31g/t Au, and Inferred Resources rose 33% to 2,744,000oz at 0.77g/t Au. These gains were driven by 52 holes totalling 31,186m drilled between 2021 and late 2025. The expansion focused on key zones like Douay West and the Porphyry zone, which continues to provide the bulk-tonnage foundation for the project.

The headline addition, however, is the maiden Joutel underground resource. Joutel, which hosts the past-producing Eagle-Telbel mining complex, returned a maiden Indicated Resource of 126,000oz at 4.53g/t Au and an Inferred Resource of 992,000oz at 4.11g/t Au. These are high-grade figures for the Abitibi region and provide a high-margin underground development scenario that can run concurrently or independently of the bulk-tonnage open pit plans at Douay.

Critically, this 5.2-million-ounce total serves as a baseline that does not yet include approximately 26,000m of drilling completed during the winter 2026 program. Those results are still being processed and represent a significant near-term catalyst for further expansion.

The company is heading into the remainder of the year with a $13.9M exploration budget, covering an additional 32,000m of diamond drilling and regional sonic work. The program is fully funded from the existing treasury, with internal scoping and trade-off studies planned to evaluate potential mining scenarios across the consolidated land package.

Currently, MGM / MGMLF trades on the TSX Venture and OTCQX and is trading at $2.95 and US$2.17, an increase of 9.7% and 9.6% on the day. This bump in the share price bodes well against a faltering gold tape, with gold down 0.6% to US$4,672/oz, and the GDXJ down 2.29% on the day. 

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